Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Cuts Holdings in Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR)

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Bruker Co. (NASDAQ:BRKR - Free Report) by 67.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,155 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 10,886 shares during the period. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Bruker were worth $215,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in shares of Bruker by 54.2% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,109 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 390 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its position in shares of Bruker by 15.4% during the 1st quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 32,300 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,348,000 after purchasing an additional 4,300 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bruker by 28.0% during the 1st quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 9,469 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $395,000 after acquiring an additional 2,074 shares during the period. Washington Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Bruker during the 1st quarter worth approximately $908,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in shares of Bruker by 45.8% during the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,325 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 416 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.52% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on BRKR. Citigroup downgraded shares of Bruker from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $50.00 to $40.00 in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Bruker from $57.00 to $45.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Bruker from $57.00 to $48.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Bruker from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Bruker in a report on Monday, February 24th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Bruker currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $56.22.

Insider Activity

In other Bruker news, CEO Frank H. Laukien acquired 2,608 shares of Bruker stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 6th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $38.36 per share, for a total transaction of $100,042.88. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 38,462,171 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,475,408,879.56. This represents a 0.01% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 27.30% of the company's stock.

Bruker Trading Down 3.9%

Shares of BRKR traded down $1.57 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $38.30. 1,606,310 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,630,969. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.16. The business has a 50-day moving average of $38.30 and a 200-day moving average of $47.85. Bruker Co. has a fifty-two week low of $34.10 and a fifty-two week high of $72.94.

Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The medical research company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $801.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $763.83 million. Bruker had a net margin of 3.36% and a return on equity of 21.01%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.53 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Bruker Co. will post 2.69 EPS for the current year.

Bruker Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Bruker's dividend payout ratio is currently 38.46%.

About Bruker

Bruker Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, develops, manufactures, and distributes scientific instruments, and analytical and diagnostic solutions in the United States, Europe, the Asia Pacific, and internationally. The company operates through four segments: Bruker Scientific Instruments (BSI) BioSpin, BSI CALID, BSI Nano, and Bruker Energy & Supercon Technologies.